Topping machine



' G. E. PLEcHEH.

ToPPlNG MAcHlNE.

APPLICATION FILED NOV. 2.2, 1920.

Patented Apr. 25, 1922.

/N VEN TOR 62,0/ Plak/2er f1 WOR/viE Y dump.V

GEORGE marciana. or PERRYTOWN, Taxes.

Terrine MACHINE. Y

miami.

To all whom t may concern.

Be it known that I, Gnonen E; FLETCHER, a citizen of the United States, residing at Perrytown," in the'county of @ch-il'tree and- State of Texas, havev invented certain" new and useful Improvements in'1 Topping-Maf chines; and I- do declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in" the art to which it appertains to make and use the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, and tozthe lettersand figures of reference marked thereon,l which form a partl of this specification.

This invention relates to topping machines' adapted for severing 'the heads from the stalks of yKailir corn, milo Amaize and the like, and the invention contemplates the provision of means whereby the stalks Amay be conveniently carried to a severing device where the heads willbe separatedfrom the stalks and conveyed toan appropriate point', for example, a thresher orthe like, the stalks being separately conveyed to another convenient point as, for example,y al wagon.V or

It is the purpose of, my invention to provide a simple, durable and efficient device which i's Areadily portable and which will perform the functions for whichit 'is'l intended in an eiiicientfand expeditious manner..

In carrying out my invention I provide a portable, horizontal conveyor, on the frame of which is a gauge rail so that the heads and 'l stalks may be straightened up preparatory.

example, a thresher, the stalks being carried to Vanother point a separate conveyor; The last named conveyor is provided with a guard under which the stalks pass'on their passage away fromthe severing device, the latter guard being provided to eliminate the liability of the stalks becomingspilled from f the conveyor. s v

Certain other novel parts and combina`l tions of parts will be described hereinafter,

Specification of Letters 4Iatent.

designated o 2, Ycarries a laterally,

Patented Apr. 25, 1922. Application led November V:22, v1920'. Serial No. 425,690, y Y A drawings, in whichy y 1g. 1 1s ay perspective view of a topping v.' rnachine constructed in' accordance with myy invention. p Y Y F1g52 is a fragmentary, plan view of the same, and

Fig. 3 is a cross sectional view on the line 3 3 of Figjl. s 4 v In the illustrated embodiment ofmy inf -vention 1 designates a-n elongated. frame, consisting'of'the side bars 2and 2"',which'may lbe;connected'by' suitablecross bars or struts Y 1n a wellknown manner. y' The frameis's'up'- ported'upon axles 3 and 4 by bolstersk land v6, the axles having mounted thereon ground I wheels 7,8, 9 and 10 sothat the frame is in the form Vof a vehicle. At the respective ends 0f the frame areconveyor driving shafts 11 and 12, which carry sprockets 13 andy 14 on v shaft 11l and: '15 and'lvon shaft *12; A

sprocket chain 17 passes'around the sprockets and l16 and a complementary sprocket lchain 1 8 lpasses around'the'sprockets14 and 15, theV sprocketv chain being connected by slats 19 to, provide a conveyor between the side bars 2 and 2', as clearly illustrated in Fi s;1and2.x l l ne of the `side bars, for example, the one projecting' shelf or table 20, which maybe secured vthereto in any lappropriate manner,

and said shelf carries a gauge rail 21, set on V At the other orfree end of the gauge rail which may be of4 'A 8 5 "outwardly 21 is an angle 23, the lateral flange 24 of A vwhich carries a bolt having anut thereon and movableA inthe lateral'slot 25. Therefore,

it willbe apparent that the gaugerail may be swung' toward and away from the con` veyor to accommodate for. long heads and short heads, and thereby insure' the proper presentation ofi the stalks to the vsevering device, shown as a disk saw* 12,6v rotatable verticall'y at the rear end of the conveyor frame The, shaft 27 of the saw ismounted in bearings 28 and 29 supportedby the main frame and on one endvof the shaft 27` isa pulley 30,

adaptedrtobe driven by va suitable belt 31,. Y

which, in turn, may be driven from any suit` v able source.

Intermediate.' thefends'of the 'shaft' 2 is a pulleyf32, from which is driven a belt 33, passinggaroundthe pulley ,Qn the. vS1135@ ilo v so that the conveyor and the saw will be simultaneously driven.

deemed unnecessary The end of the shaft 11 carries a sprocket 35 which drives a sprocket 36 on a counter shaft 37, through the medium of a sprocket chain 38, the counter shaft carries a beveled gear 39 which meshes with a beveled gear 40 on shaft 41, transverse of a second conveyor frame 42, extending at right angles to the main conveyor and pivoted to the frame thereof below the saw so that the heads which have .been severed by the saw will drop upon the endless belt 43 and be discharged from the upper end 44 to a thresher or to some other suitable means for receiving them.

rllhe conveyor frame 42 may be raised and lowered by the cable 45 which passes around a pulley 46 on a standard 47 carried by the main frame, the end of the cable being adapted to pass around a drum 47 provided with a crank 48 and preferably with a pawl and ratchet mechanism so that the pawl will act as a detent to hold the conveyor v42V in any inclined position, the detail construction of the drum being so well known that it is to specifically illustrate or describe it in this application.

If desired, the saw may be provided with a guard 49 extending over the top thereof, as shown in Fig. 1, the guard being appropriately secured to the main frame.

In order to insure the heads being etliciently severed from the stalks I have provided a longitudinal guard consisting of a bar 50 in front of the saw and extending a suitable distance longitudinally of the main conveyor, the front end of the bar being upturned as at 51 so that the stalks will be fed beneath the same and will be held against the conveyor, as the heads are presented to the saw. This prevents the saw from spreading the heads or tearing them and provides for a more efficient separation.

The rear end of the guard bar 50 is upturned, as at 52 and extends beyond the main conveyor to overlap a supplemental aligning conveyor supported by a frame 53, pivoted to the main conveyorframe and having transverse conveyor shafts 54 and 55 which drive a conveyor belt 56. The conveyor shaft 54 carries a sprocket 57 driven bya chain 58 from a sprocket 59 on the shaft 11.

The conveyor frame 53 may be raised and lowered by a cable 58 having a loop 59, which is connected to the upturned ends of a U-shaped bar 60, transversely slidable through the frame 53. rIhe end of the cable passes over a pulley 61 on the standards 47, which is also adapted to be wound by a suitfable drum or held by any other suitable means so as to provide for the proper elevation of the conveyor frame 53. The con veyor frame 53 carries transverse arms Y62 and 63 which support a guard bar 64, which has an upturned end 65 overlapping the up.n turned end 52 of the bar 50 sothatras the stalks leave the guard 50, they will pass un der the guard bar 64 as they are conveyed by the conveyor belt 56. The purpose of having the guard bar 64 is to prevent the stalks from tilting off the conveyor for since the forward ends of the stalks can only slightly overlap the conveyor belt'to provide for the proper separation of the heads, relatively long stalks would have a tendency to tilt ofi the conveyor belt 56 but thisV will be prevented by the guard 64. The rod or bar 60 is made relatively long so that in the event that the stalks are relatively long they may pass through the space 66 formed by the loop 59 arlid the bar 60. As they leave the conveyor, t ey dumped upon a pile to be later removed.

t will be apparent from the foregoing that the device is easily portable, that it is simple in operation, and that it will efiiciently separate the heads from lthe stalks, automatically conveying the heads to the vthresher or other receptacle and thestalks to the desired point.'

By providing the gauge rail 21, the bundles of'stalks may be lined up so that the heads of all of the stalks will be severed at the proper points when they reach the saw.

The purpose of providing for adjustability of the conveyor frames 42 and 53 will be apparent when ,it` is understoodthat the heights of the points to receive both the severed heads and the stalks may vary under varying conditions and it is desirable to adjust the conveyors to meet these requirements.

The arrangement of driving mechanism has been conveniently larranged and will lenditself for the purpose intended although I do not wish to be limited in every case to the specific arrangement of driving mechanism shown.

What I claim and desire to secure by Iletters-Patent is: 9

1. A head topping machine for Kaflir corn and the like comprising a horizontal conveyor, a gage rail along one edge thereof, a head severing saw at one end of the conveyor, a rail in front Lof the saw and above the conveyor, an aligning conveyor in pivoted relation to the first named conveyor, and an anti-tilting stalk rail above the align; ing conveyor. y

2. In a topping machine for Kaffir corn vand the like, a horizontal conveyor, a head the first, and an anti-stalk tilting guard rail above thel second. conveyor.

In testimony whereof I aflix my signature.

GEORG-E E. FLETCHER. 

